LOST: A book I was working on for a YEAR!

[Jason35588362cpvz]

I was working on a book using Adobe InDesign. I have been working on the book FOR A YEAR. I lost the book. All I can get is about 15 pages from the book.

I nearly threw up when I found out what I've lost.

I NEED HELP. Not virtual assistants-REAL HELP! 

Is there a place on this thing to get someone real? 

[Willi Adelberger]

Is a lock file aside the indd file? Delete it?

Did you package the file with an IDML included? Work on with the idml. 
Did you make copies in case of problems? You should always do that. 
Did you work on a cloud drive like Dropbox? The have tools to recover any file for a period of time. 

when you worked did you link or embed used images and other assets?

If nothing helps you need to start and make security steps in the future but your files are lost. 

[John Waller]

It seems the horse has bolted but please tell us you've got daily backups.

Your screenshot shows you're on a Mac. Time Machine is built for these situations. Just connect an external hard drive to your Mac.

Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac – Apple Support (AU)

Do any of these suggestions help?

Recover documents and undo mistakes in InDesign (adobe.com)

[BobLevine]

While I sympathize with your plight, I cannot imagine working on something so important without proper backup. Were you by any chance working in a Dropbox or OneDrive (or similar) folder? What version of InDesign? What operating system?

[Derek Cross]

This might be helpful (for future documents):
https://creativepro.com/backups-for-busy-creatives/?utm_source=CreativePro+Network+List&utm_campaign...

[Joel Cherney]

I've never used their file recovery service myself, but Markzware offers a paid service that can often recover material from damaged InDesign files.